Tondeleo: As you know from reading previous posts, I am impressed with the creativity of the rural Americans who have little money, but the same needs and desires as others.
The lack of money causes them to come up with ideas and knowledge that most of us never tap into.
A perfect example of this is the tandem axle lorry - truck - that Marilyn found online when visiting the library and printed out for Doc and emailed to me for this post and for me to use as a reference when interviewing Doc about it.
So, Doc, tell what you can about this interesting vehicle. I have never seen one quite like it...
Doc: Well, Tondy, this is one more work of genius by a unsung hero. Marilyn printed this one out for me so I could just sit and look at it and get inspired.
Tondeleo: And what exactly is it, Doc? I have never seen anything like it.
Doc: OK, well, it's a custom Chevy Astro pick up that was made by a guy named Jim Cramer, up there in Michigan. I ain't never been up to there, but I can tell they have at least one genius up there. He probally is broke, but is rich in ideas.
He made this work of art by taking two Chevy Astro vans, and cutting them up and putting them together so he has a custom extended cab pick up that he can put big loads on, and probally get about 20 miles to the gallon when it's not too loaded. Plus, it's the only one in the world like it.
Totally custom! Who else has a custom Chevy Astro six wheeled pick up? Maybe no one! But if they did, it wouldn't look like James'!
Tondeleo: Can you tell how he did it by looking at the pictures?
Doc: Sure. But I never woulda thought of it myself. He took the blue one and on the right side cut it off about two thirds the length of the sliding door. He used the sliding door from the maroon one. Maybe it was better than the blue sliding door. Or maybe the blue sliding door was his practice run. He kept the blue back fender. on both sides. He used the maroon front fender on the passenger side, too. Probally the blue one was messed up.
You can see that the blue one at least was a window van, 'cause you can see on the picture taken from the rear that it has seat racks in the floor. He cut that floor off as far back as possible, and then used 2" angle to extend the length about 32 inches or so. He woulda then used the floor from the maroon one to fill in where he lengthened it.
Look at the back of the cab, Tondy! Genius! He took the back corners and maybe 6 or so inches of roof, and the back doors, which he cut 3 or 4 inches off the bottoms of, and used that to make the back of the cab! Easy, and smart. Now, for the side back windows, I don't know where they woulda come from. Maybe from a fiber glass camper top. That's where I woulda got them. He mighta done something else.
Look at how he added the back wheel opening and the rest of the back end, to stretch it so he has a good length for hauling a load. Looks like he can get about eight feet in there. The front set of back wheels would still be the drive wheels, so he didn't have to do nothing there. The second set of back wheels would just be hooked to the same rear from the maroon one, but not hooked to a drive shaft. that's called a tag axle, well, that's what I call it. Probally the right name is something else.
And last... he put on six pimp wheels! Now where in the world did he find four of them, let alone SIX of them pimp rims? Only a genius coulda found six of those pimp rims. Only a genius. Jim Cramer, I salute you.
The lack of money causes them to come up with ideas and knowledge that most of us never tap into.
A perfect example of this is the tandem axle lorry - truck - that Marilyn found online when visiting the library and printed out for Doc and emailed to me for this post and for me to use as a reference when interviewing Doc about it.
So, Doc, tell what you can about this interesting vehicle. I have never seen one quite like it...
Doc: Well, Tondy, this is one more work of genius by a unsung hero. Marilyn printed this one out for me so I could just sit and look at it and get inspired.
Tondeleo: And what exactly is it, Doc? I have never seen anything like it.
Doc: OK, well, it's a custom Chevy Astro pick up that was made by a guy named Jim Cramer, up there in Michigan. I ain't never been up to there, but I can tell they have at least one genius up there. He probally is broke, but is rich in ideas.
He made this work of art by taking two Chevy Astro vans, and cutting them up and putting them together so he has a custom extended cab pick up that he can put big loads on, and probally get about 20 miles to the gallon when it's not too loaded. Plus, it's the only one in the world like it.
Totally custom! Who else has a custom Chevy Astro six wheeled pick up? Maybe no one! But if they did, it wouldn't look like James'!
Tondeleo: Can you tell how he did it by looking at the pictures?
Doc: Sure. But I never woulda thought of it myself. He took the blue one and on the right side cut it off about two thirds the length of the sliding door. He used the sliding door from the maroon one. Maybe it was better than the blue sliding door. Or maybe the blue sliding door was his practice run. He kept the blue back fender. on both sides. He used the maroon front fender on the passenger side, too. Probally the blue one was messed up.
You can see that the blue one at least was a window van, 'cause you can see on the picture taken from the rear that it has seat racks in the floor. He cut that floor off as far back as possible, and then used 2" angle to extend the length about 32 inches or so. He woulda then used the floor from the maroon one to fill in where he lengthened it.
Look at the back of the cab, Tondy! Genius! He took the back corners and maybe 6 or so inches of roof, and the back doors, which he cut 3 or 4 inches off the bottoms of, and used that to make the back of the cab! Easy, and smart. Now, for the side back windows, I don't know where they woulda come from. Maybe from a fiber glass camper top. That's where I woulda got them. He mighta done something else.Look at how he added the back wheel opening and the rest of the back end, to stretch it so he has a good length for hauling a load. Looks like he can get about eight feet in there. The front set of back wheels would still be the drive wheels, so he didn't have to do nothing there. The second set of back wheels would just be hooked to the same rear from the maroon one, but not hooked to a drive shaft. that's called a tag axle, well, that's what I call it. Probally the right name is something else.
And last... he put on six pimp wheels! Now where in the world did he find four of them, let alone SIX of them pimp rims? Only a genius coulda found six of those pimp rims. Only a genius. Jim Cramer, I salute you.
